MINERS' CRISIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1920, Page 5

MINERS' CRISIS.

OUTLOOK MAY CHANGE, j STRIKE HOT POPULAB. By Telegraph.—Press As3n.—Copyright. Received Sept. 15, 9 p.m. London, Sept. 15. The official figures of the quarter's mining profits liave perturbed trade union circles, and have destroyed the miners' contention that there is a disposable surplus of £66,000,000. A fundamental revision in the miners' demands may result. The main reasons for hope are an absence of enthusiasm among coal consumers for the miners' help in decreasing prices by a strike, and the lack of a desire for a strike among Yorkshire and Midland miners. It is noteworthy that a number of trade union leaders are substituting for the original demands the suggestion that the Government should pledge itself not to de-control coal for at least two but it is doubtful whether this' means a re-imposition of the machinery operating during the war, or only continuance of the present executive control over the maximum prices for household coal.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. MINERS' HIGH PAY. BUT WANT STILL MORE. Received Sept. 15, 10.35 p.m. London, Sept. 15. Mr. R. Smillie (president of the Miners' Federation), in a letter to the newspapers, asserts in a chastened tone thai the object of the threatened strike is not nationalisation of the mines, hut is the outcome of the miners' desire to obtain a wage that will enable tliem to live in decency. The talk of individuals getting high wages was beside the mark. The average pay of coalgetters is no\Y 21s i)d daily.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.